A blockchain is a distributed database that maintains a continuously growing list of ordered records referred to as blocks. A blockchains can be used as an open, distributed ledger to record transactions among parties efficiently and in a verifiable manner. Each block of a blockchain is linked to a previous block within the blockchain. Blockchains are suitable for the recording of events, records, transaction processing, and proving provenance. Verification of the data contained with blocks is achieved in a distributed consensus manner, in which data integrity is maintained in part by database replication and computational trust.